Over the last few weeks, Sara and I have been planning this year’s Japan trip. This year, we will be spending two weeks meeting with the craftsmen we work with. I will also be spending a significant amount of time training with these guys… sharpening, blade polishing, handle replacement and repair, etc. During the time we are in Japan, our store in Venice, CA will be closed and we will not be shipping out any orders. However, you can still place orders online. All orders placed within the two weeks we are gone will ship on the Monday after we return.

This year, we will be leaving Los Angeles on September 17, 2011 and returning on October 2, 2011. Our store will close from September 16, 2011 and will reopen on October 3, 2011. All orders received on September 15, 2011 before 2pm PDT will ship before we leave. All orders placed on September 15, 2011 after 2pm PDT until October 3, 2011 will ship on October 3, 2011.

While in Japan, we do our best to still make ourselves available to our customers. We will have internet access for the majority of the trip and will be answering e-mails while we are there. We also have Skype if you feel more comfortable with that. We may not always pick up phone calls, but we will do our best to call back if we can. Here is our contact information while we are gone:
Jonathan Broida
E-Mail: Jon@JapaneseKnifeImports.com
Skype: 310-594-7802

Sara Motomura-Broida
E-mail: Sara@JapaneseKnifeImports.com

Last year, we did our best to take lots of pictures and update our blog as much as we could. This year, we intend to do the same. However, I will also try to shoot much more video this year… hopefully covering some cool sharpening techniques and knife skills.

Over the course of the two weeks we are there, we will be traveling to Tokyo, Sanjo (Nigata), and Sakai (Osaka). We will be spending time with craftsmen in various fields- blacksmithing, sharpening, handle making, etc.- as well as some chefs and other non-knife-related artists.

We thank you in advance for your understanding. If you have any questions or if there is anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,
Jonathan Broida and Sara Motomura-Broida

(you can also read this on our blog here (http://blog.japaneseknifeimports.com/2011/09/japan-trip-2011.html))

kalaeb

09-10-2011, 04:46 PM

Perhaps you need someone to come mind the shop for you?:D

Just don't take an inventory before you go, I will watch over all your stuff for free....:knife:

JBroida

09-10-2011, 05:04 PM

lol

Keith Neal

09-10-2011, 07:12 PM

Have a great trip, Jon. I look forward to your report.

Keith

Lefty

09-10-2011, 07:13 PM

Awesome Jon! I'm looking forward to the videos, pics and stories!

obtuse

09-10-2011, 09:54 PM

Have fun! Wish I could come.

Salty dog

09-10-2011, 11:30 PM

I am convinced you are living my dream life.

Eamon Burke

09-10-2011, 11:39 PM

I am convinced you are living my dream life.

:plus1:

JBroida

09-11-2011, 12:03 AM

someone's gotta do it :p

i dont think you'd be too happy with this trip though... busy donest even being to describe it... we're trying to cram a month of work into two weeks

mr drinky

09-11-2011, 12:13 AM

Jon is the only guy who can announce that his store is basically closing for a couple of weeks and we are simultaneously happy, sad, and jealous. We also think about changing careers and wonder where we can find a cool knife-wife like Sara ;) You're playing with dreamy fire Jon.

k.

JBroida

09-11-2011, 12:16 AM

its kind of wierd, but i like the idea of closing for a bit to go and train... a lot of people ask me why i'm not keeping the store open and i just feel like this is more true to what we are all about

Eamon Burke

09-11-2011, 01:19 AM

Just tell them it's more Japanese this way.

echerub

09-11-2011, 01:41 AM

i just feel like this is more true to what we are all about

When I told my girlfriend about Jon & Sara going on this trip, her first comment was "But... don't they make their living from the store?" To which I replied, "Yeah, but this is the kind of thing that sets them apart from everyone else." I still stand by that. The training, the insights, and the expanded understanding you get from these trips are invaluable to you personally and to JKI the business.

JBroida

09-11-2011, 01:44 AM

actually, it is a financial stretch, but its very important to both sara and i, so we make it work...

anyways, len, its really nice to hear comments like that. it means a lot to us. I'm glad you guys see where we are coming from.

apicius9

09-11-2011, 02:12 AM

Have a great trip - and I'd like to see some handle making videos, please :)

Stefan

JBroida

09-11-2011, 02:26 AM

i'll do my best... did i ever send you those handle pictures from last year?

JBroida

09-15-2011, 04:35 PM

BUMP
http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/shop/media//animation_1.gif
Reminder- Japanese Knife Imports will be closed from the end of today (September 15th) to October 2nd while we continue our training in Japan... you can read more about our trip here:
Read about our Japan Trip plans (http://blog.japaneseknifeimports.com/2011/09/japan-trip-2011.html)

JBroida

09-18-2011, 06:20 PM

So, after an extremely long day of travel yesteray (12 hours on a plane and 3.5 hours on a train), we finally made it to our first destination. Its about 6:30am here now and sara and i are getting ready for our first two meetings. I brought 4 memory cards this year, so i will try to take as much video as possible ;)

obtuse

09-18-2011, 06:56 PM

Can't wait to see the videos!

Eamon Burke

09-18-2011, 11:22 PM

Are you tweeting this? I'd get twitter again to follow this.

Jim

09-19-2011, 12:28 AM

Happy trails Jon!

Chef Niloc

09-19-2011, 04:09 AM

Could this be it?? The trip I have been waiting years for??? No not my wedding that's next month. Johns trip back right corner... Could I be the 1st us chef to wheeled the mighty oroshi hocho??
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/celtic2174/2ae75682.jpg

JBroida

09-19-2011, 04:46 AM

check out my facebook to keep track of the trip... thats where i post the most

JBroida

09-19-2011, 04:52 AM

Could this be it?? The trip I have been waiting years for??? No not my wedding that's next month. Johns trip back right corner... Could I be the 1st us chef to wheeled the mighty oroshi hocho??
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa214/celtic2174/2ae75682.jpg

i'm going to do my best for you colin... but just in case, i found a maker who is willing to make any shape/size deba we ask for... it was my backup plan ;)

JBroida

09-19-2011, 03:59 PM

a nice day of two meetings... picked up 3 new knives and have very good news for a customer ;)

kalaeb

09-19-2011, 04:00 PM

Glad the two of you made it! Looking forward to some blog posts!

mdoublestack

09-19-2011, 04:36 PM

Ooh yeah, cant wait to see some photos... then, the spoils of your visit. Have a great trip!

JBroida

09-19-2011, 04:51 PM

i only brought my tablet with me this year, so its a bit more difficult to post stuff, but i'll be on a train for about 5 hours tomorrow, so i'll try to get some stuff done then... shot some cool videos today though

JBroida

09-20-2011, 07:52 PM

made it to Sakai last night... meeting with Ashi-san in about 1 hour... should be lots of fun. Sadly, i havent had time to post any pictures yet, but hopefully i will soon. I am doing my best to shoot lots of video though ;).

-Jon

geezr

09-21-2011, 01:59 AM

made it to Sakai last night... meeting with Ashi-san in about 1 hour... should be lots of fun. Sadly, i havent had time to post any pictures yet, but hopefully i will soon. I am doing my best to shoot lots of video though ;).

-Jon
Good you are in Sakai :) - has typhoon Roke affected your trip?
My checking the weather in Japan started before our last trip there and continues.

JBroida

09-21-2011, 09:16 AM

Rained like crazy today, but seems to be clearing up now... i dealt with the rain by staying indoors, forging, and sharpening with ashi-san :-P

geezr

09-21-2011, 03:47 PM

Rained like crazy today, but seems to be clearing up now... i dealt with the rain by staying indoors, forging, and sharpening with ashi-san :-P
That's great :thumbsup:
Looking forward to the goodies when you return :hungry: